Privy Council in London granted Bimini Blue Coalition's injunction application ...stopping dredging activities in Bimini

Privy Council Grants Injunction To Stop Dredging

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

In a stunning new development, the Privy Council in London today granted Bimini Blue Coalition's injunction application stopping dredging activities from continuing in Bimini, reversing a decision by the Bahamas Court of Appeal on Monday.

The injunction is effective immediately. As consequence, Resorts World Bimini developers cannot dredge unless and until they can persuade the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court that the permit they have was properly granted with proper consideration by the Director of Physical Planning and that additional conditions are satisfied.

Dredging activities in Bimini began over a week ago.

May 23, 2014

Tribune 242

What's the precise meaning of the death penalty test imposed by the London-based Privy Council?

Call To End Confusion Over Death Penalty

Tribune242:



ONE of the country’s top judges has called for an end to the confusion surrounding the imposition of the death penalty.

 

Amid escalating crime and growing calls for capital punishment, Court of Appeal President Justice Anita Allen said the precise meaning of the death penalty test imposed by the London-based Privy Council must be made clear.

 

“We’ve considered these decisions, listened to and appreciate the concerns of the public and what the Constitutional Commission has recommended. I suggest that the time has come to bring clarity to the dispensation of justice in these cases,” Justice Allen said.

 

Speaking to politicians and members of the judiciary yesterday during the annual special sitting of the Court of Appeal, she noted that a 2006 Privy Council decision outlawed the mandatory death sentence for murderers then on the books, and made capital punishment discretionary.

 

But, Justice Allen said, the high court’s definition of a capital case as the “worst of the worst or the rarest of the rare” has caused “consternation in the ranks of legal scholars and the general public at large.”

 

“The test,” she said, “even appears to confound judicial thinking as (Privy Council member) Lord Kerr himself admitted in the case of Maxo Tido, when he said that the epithet ‘worst of the worst and rarest of the rare’ gave rise to conceptual difficulty as to which cases qualify for the death penalty.”

 

Responding to calls for the Privy Council to be replaced by the Caribbean Court of Justice, the government-appointed Constitutional Commission warned last year that this move would not necessarily lead to a different stance on capital punishment, or eliminate concerns about “foreignness”.

 

“In reality, London is not much further away from Nassau than Port-of-Spain (Trinidad),” the commission said.

 

Justice Allen’s call for clarity comes on the heels of anti-crime activist Rodney Moncur’s claim that his upcoming march to “remove impediments to capital punishment” will attract thousands of participants.

 

“The society is tired of the number of murders and mayhem which are taking place in the Bahamas and we believe these murders can be reduced through swift justice,” said Mr Moncur.

 

“We are marching once again to bring pressure on the Parliament of the Bahamas to remove all of the impediments which prevent persons charged with murder from getting bail and to move all of the impediments which prevent murderers from being executed.”

 

The last person executed in the Bahamas was David Mitchell in January 2000.

 

He was convicted of stabbing two German tourists to death.

 

Mitchell’s execution was controversial because it was carried out while he had an appeal pending before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

 

International criticism of the move was followed by a moratorium on capital punishment which lasted until the Privy Council’s 2006 decision in the case of Maxo Tido.

 

January 31, 2014

 

Tribune 242

"Thank God for the Privy Council!"... It is "thank God for the Privy Council" that gives our courts an aura of stability and is an added attraction for The Bahamas as a commercial centre

A case for keeping the Privy Council

tribune242 editorial


CRIME IS out of control. All of us are concerned, and naturally everyone wants a quick solution to something that has been a growing sickness for many years. As with all growing sicknesses, there is no quick fix.

Sir Etienne Dupuch died 19 years ago, having stopped writing this column about four years before his death. But for years before that he was warning the Bahamian people that unless something were done to reverse our social decay as far as crime was concerned the Bahamas was on a downward path in Jamaica's shadow. What we are complaining about today, he predicted in this column way back then.

Solutions are needed, but they can't be found in an atmosphere of hysteria. What has to be faced is that society as a whole is to blame - either by active participation, or by ignoring the signs in an attempt to insulate itself against the threatening storm. Only a united society can now overcome our problems.

This week a group of pastors got together to express their concern about crime, especially "about the spiralling, out of control murder rate."

They blame government for not doing what is legally necessary to carry out capital punishment in cases of those convicted of murder. They believe that "former and current governments" have failed the country by allowing the Privy Council to "force its 2006 interpretation of our constitution on us" and continuing to govern as if nothing can be done about it. In short they want the return of capital punishment, and the disappearance of the Privy Council.

What most people do not appreciate is that - as one lawyer pointed out -- when the Privy Council had the opportunity to rule that capital punishment was unconstitutional, it did not do so. However, what it did rule unconstitutional was that hanging was the mandatory sentence on a murder conviction. In other words there were no degrees of culpability for the crime. It was felt that instead of the mandatory sentence, the presiding judge should consider each case on its own merits and decide which warranted death and which a lesser sentence.

In other words it left us with capital punishment still on our statute books, but it forced the courts to put more thought into how the sentence was to be administered. It is now up to our legislators to craft legislation that makes it clear what types of murders would warrant the noose.

But we have to face the fact that capital punishment in this world is seeing its last days. Even in America, one of the last bastions of the death penalty, discussions are now underway about its abolition. Consciences are being pricked in the knowledge that many innocents have been condemned to death by contaminated evidence and faulty judgments.

Many Bahamians are calling for the Bahamas to cut all ties with the Privy Council so that our penal system can again start to "hang 'em high." This of itself would be a capital blunder - it would remove the most important plank that makes the Bahamas attractive as a commercial centre. Many international businesses would not locate here if our courts did not have the added attraction of the Privy Council as the final court of appeal.

As one international businessman - despairing of his litigation in our court system - commented: "Thank God for the Privy Council!"

It is "thank God for the Privy Council" that gives our courts an aura of stability and is an added attraction for the Bahamas as a commercial centre.

Without the Privy Council as our final and truly independent high court, where would we turn? The Bahamas certainly could neither afford nor mann a local high court with Bahamians. And who can guarantee that a panel of Caribbean judges at the Caribbean court would not rule in the same manner as the Privy Council law Lords in London when it comes to capital cases? Many of them are even now debating the abolition of capital punishment. And so, even with a regional court there is no guarantee that the Bahamas will be able to hang 'em high. That is why we believe that the only way to keep the dangerous murderer away from society is to have a life sentence that truly lasts to the end of the convict's natural life.

But even so the death penalty will continue to haunt the Bahamas. Through the FTA many trade agreements have social justice clauses to protect children, workers and many other groups. Many European countries will not enter into agreements with a country that imposes the death penalty.
Some years ago we wrote in this column about a European ambassador who was paying us a courtesy call. At that time capital punishment was very much an issue. He wanted to know when the Bahamas was going to abandon capital punishment. When we told him of the feelings of the Bahamian people, his comment was that the European organisation to which his country was a member would force the issue -- the Bahamas would no longer qualify for loans.

And so for those who want to be rid of the Privy Council so that they can hang their criminals, they would be advised to think long and hard. They will be denying this country one of its most valuable assets, the upkeep of which costs us nothing, in exchange for what? Certainly no guarantee that we shall be able to tie the hangman's noose around the neck of some unfortunate wretch.

September 27, 2011

tribune242 editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Despite the regularity of the issuance of the death sentence, executions are uncommon in The Bahamas... There has not been a hanging in The Islands since David Mitchell was executed on January 6, 2000

Realistic about the death penalty

thenassauguardian editorial

Execution remains the most severe punishment prescribed by the state for the crimes of murder and treason.  The punishment of death is regularly issued in The Bahamas against those who murder. Treason prosecutions are virtually non-existent.

Despite the regularity of the issuance of the death sentence, executions are uncommon.  There has not been a hanging in The Bahamas since David Mitchell was executed on January 6, 2000.

In the 1993 Pratt and Morgan ruling, Her Majesty’s Privy Council ruled that it would be cruel and inhuman to execute a murder convict more than five years after the death sentence was issued.

This ruling was intended to protect the innocent and various civil liberties.  But it has had unintended consequences.

The ruling has slowed the execution process.  Murder trials take a long time to come up in this country and the appeals process after the death sentence is issued also takes years.

The country hanged 50 men since 1929, according to records kept at Her Majesty's Prison.  Five of them were hanged under the first two Ingraham administrations (1992-2002); 13 were hanged under the 25-year rule of the Pindling government (1967-1992); and the remainder were executed between 1929 and 1967.

In 2006, the Privy Council also issued a ruling, stating that the section of the Penal Code requiring a sentence of death be passed on any defendant convicted of murder "should be construed as imposing a discretionary and not a mandatory sentence of death."

The government has acknowledged that hangings are unlikely considering the five-year rule and the amount of time it takes for the appeals process to take place.  However, despite this acknowledgment, capital punishment remains a legal punishment.

This commentary is not intended to offer an opinion on whether or not capital punishment is a fair or reasonable punishment.  There are good arguments for and against hangings.

What is clear is that it is virtually impossible for the death sentence to be carried out.  And appeals against the sentence add to the backlog of cases before various courts.  If the five-year rule remains, we need to end the death penalty for practical reasons.

The appeals waste time and money.

Anecdotally, the majority of Bahamians appear in favor of executions.  This includes many of the powerful and vocal Christian clerics.  Governments fear even raising the issue of ending the death penalty.

As we all consider ways to reduce the number of matters before the court in order to make the criminal justice system more efficient, we must put this issue up for debate.  Emotionalism is useless.  The facts are the facts.  Hangings, though desired by many, are unlikely.

Bahamians want to understand what is going on.  And they want action.

We are eager to learn the details of the government’s legislative plan to address the definition of the length of a life sentence when Parliament resumes next month.

As long as the Privy Council rule remains in effect, murderers will appeal and appeal until the time for execution has past.

We must be realistic and accept that the days of execution in The Bahamas are over.

Sep 22, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Although the public is clamouring for government to start hanging those now on death row, the law has to be followed and so far the Privy Council rulings are almost cutting down the hangman's noose

tribune242 editorial



WE AGREE with Security Minister Tommy Turnquest that it is going to become increasingly more difficult to hang convicted murderers.

Although the public is clamouring for government to start hanging those now on death row, the law has to be followed and so far Privy Council rulings are almost cutting down the hangman's noose.

In 1993 the Bahamas discovered that a hanging could not be carried out because the Privy Council had earlier ruled in a Jamaican case that it was inhumane for a prisoner to wait more than five years on death row for their sentences to be carried out. After five years a death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Ever since then clever lawyers have protected their clients by court delays stretching past the five year limit.

Then in 2006 the Privy Council ruled that mandatory death sentences were unconstitutional. Each case had to be considered on its individual merits before sentence could be passed.

However, the Privy Council decision in the Max Tido case, in which 16-year-old Donnell Conover was brutally murdered, has almost ended capital punishment in the Bahamas. The Privy Council sent Tido's case back to the Bahamas appeals court saying that it was not a murder that warranted the most extreme punishment of death. It was returned "for the imposition of an appropriate sentence." The angry reaction here from both religious and civic organisations was to give the boot to the Privy Council, and do it our way -- "hang 'em high."

However, despite the Privy Council ruling the government is working on draft legislation that will target prolific and repeat offenders and outline specific categories of murders.

Nevertheless, it was Mr Turnquest's view that whether it be the Privy Council in London or the judges in the Caribbean "more and more jurists are going to find more and more obstacles to put in the way of governments from carrying out capital punishment." That, he added, is the "reality of life."

Therefore, he said, the concentration should be to get "those prolific killers, those prolific offenders, behind bars and off our streets." In the case of murderers, life imprisonment should mean "life until death do us part."

As we have already suggested in this column those who have a life sentence should be turned into useful citizens -- even though they are behind prison walls. A large acreage of Crown land should be opened for them to farm, thus allowing them to make a contribution to this country's food supply. Between our local farmers and the prisoners this country could be almost self sufficient in fruits and vegetables. This would certainly take some of the burden off our foreign reserves.

However, there has recently been a turn of events in England with regard to capital punishment that is worth watching. And it will probably get more traction now that young hoodlums are thumbing their noses at police and setting London and other regions on fire just for the hell of it. The British are fed up with lax laws and are demanding more punishment for law breakers.

The British government -- in a move to bring democracy directly to the people -- has installed a new site for e-petitions allowing the public to have their issues debated in Parliament provided they get enough support online to do so. Restoration of the death penalty is now a burning issue. The traffic on the site was so high on this subject -- more than 1,000 people a minute -- that the site broke down. It was not designed for such heavy traffic.

"We are getting 1000 unique visits a minute - this is equivalent to nearly 1.5 million visits a day and is far more than the old ePetitions site on Number 10 ever received," said a government spokesman in apologising for the breakdown.

The restoration of capital punishment now looks as though it is going to be one of the first items for debate on the Commons' agenda. It will be the first Commons vote on capital punishment since 1998. The last hangings in Britain were in 1964.

Although British Prime Minister David Cameron does not think that "in a civilised society like ours that you can have the death penalty any more," Priti Patel, MP for Witham in Essex, felt that such a debate would "provide a good opportunity to talk about the failings of our existing criminal justice system." So many victims of the "most horrendous and heinous crimes," he said, "have no sense of justice."

He echoes the words of Donnell Conover's father who on hearing the Privy Council's decision on Tido's future said: "It is really sickening -- I feel as if there is no justice in the world for a victim's family."

August 10, 2011

tribune242 editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Ruth Bowe-Darville - President of the Bahamas Bar Association says: Bahamians who suggest abandoning the Privy Council as a final court of appeal are “treading in very dangerous water.”

Bar Council chief says Privy Council still needed



JUAN McCARTNEY
NG Senior Reporter
thenassauguardian
juan@nasguard.com



President of the Bahamas Bar Association Ruth Bowe-Darville has expressed concern over recent calls for the country to move away from the Privy Council as a final court of appeal in the wake of a controversial ruling on how the death penalty should be applied.

Bowe-Darville said Bahamians who suggest abandoning the Privy Council are “treading in very dangerous water.”

“Criminally, it’s one thing. Civilly, when you’re dealing with financial matters and the economic impact of it, litigants who come before our court, they need that assurance that there is some place of last resort that is independent and seen to be independent,” said Bowe-Darville while appearing as a guest on the Star 106.5 FM program “Jeffrey” on Thursday.

“Litigants who come before us with multi-million-dollar cases and they see us as a great financial center, they need the assurance that the Privy Council is there,” she said.

Last week, the Privy Council quashed the death sentence of murder convict Maxo Tido and ruled that the gruesome murder of 16-year-old Donnell Conover in 2002 did not warrant a death sentence.

When police discovered Conover’s body, her skull was crushed and she was badly burned.
But the Privy Council, while recognizing that it was a dreadful and appalling murder, said it did not fall into the category of worst of the worst.

Tido was sentenced more than five years ago.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced in the House of Assembly on Monday that the government intends to bring a bill to Parliament before the summer recess to deal with “the question of the imposition of the death penalty in The Bahamas”.

The legislation would outline specific categories of murder.

Bowe-Darville said the government has to address the question of the death penalty through legislation, but has to be careful not to offend members of the international community.

“I think the question of the death penalty needs to be addressed. I think the country is torn by it because we’re in the throes of this crime epidemic as people have labeled it,” she said.

“People believe that the sentence of death and the implementing of the sentence is going to solve the problem — rightly or wrongly.

“The debate is wide open. Whether the passage of legislation will resolve the problem is yet to be seen, but we need to address it, not only for our own national or domestic needs, but the addressing of the death penalty issue also has international implications for us. It also has economic implications for us.”

Bowe-Darville said Bahamians must remember that the country is “a small fish in a very big pond.”

“The wider community out there with whom we interact internationally, they’re not for the death penalty and have long not been,” she said.

“We interact with them for trade; we look to them for funding. And so we have to consider those implications as well. [Certainly the prime minister] would have considered our greater good and he would consider our interaction with the wider world as well when the legislation comes forward.”

Jun 25, 2011

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

The Privy Council and the death penalty in The Bahamas... Tommy Turnquest on the issue of capital punishment

Turnquest defends the role of the Privy Council


By LAMECH JOHNSON
tribune242


THE London-based Privy Council has been portrayed as an obstacle to the Bahamas carrying out the death penalty, but this is not the case, according to a senior cabinet minister.

Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest told The Tribune the Council's past rulings on the issue of capital punishment in the Bahamas, which was last carried out in 2001 under the first FNM administration, were more about the process than the policy.

He said: "While members on the judicial committee of the Privy Council may have views against the death penalty, their judgments have essentially been more about process than about the penalty itself. And that process itself has had a number of landmark rulings."

Mr Turnquest said these include the stipulation that cases be tried within a reasonable period of time, defined as five years, and the stipulation that the conviction and sentencing of a person cannot be carried out at the same time.

"That process is there for a reason and today it might be someone else, but tomorrow it might be your family member. So we just want to ensure that the process is followed," he said.

Mr Turnquest acknowledged that the government tracks cases closely after they leave the Court of Appeal, but defended the role of the Privy Council as the top court of the Bahamas, saying the arrangement is beneficial for the country.

"The Bahamas has decided for very good reasons not to do away with the Privy Council. The whole idea of having the Privy Council has served us well particularly in terms of our banking and financial industries and in terms of our commercial law," the minister said.

With the murder count near 60 in less than six months and several accused killers out on bail, the government has been called on to follow through with the death penalty, which is on the law books.

Mr Turnquest said he is a strong advocate for capital punishment, but he is also an "advocate for the rule the law."

"I, myself, am a proponent for capital punishment but there is a process we have to go through," he said.

That process includes the Privy Council, which is the ultimate court of appeal - above the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, Industrial Tribunal and Magistrate's Courts, he said.

Mr Turnquest also defended the government's performance on crime and efforts to upgrade the judicial system.

He said: "The government continues to work with the judiciary on improving the criminal justice system. The government has taken some steps in that regard from an infrastructural point of view, in terms of ensuring that there are sufficient courts but also in terms of human resources and ensuring that we have the manpower and other resources to get it done."

These efforts, he said, have helped cut the backlog of cases yet to be heard.

June 15, 2011

tribune242